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GRAIN ELEVATOR. No. 257,446. Patented May 2,1882.

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W. H. LOTZ.

GRAIN ELEVATOR.

No. 257,446. Patented May 2,1882.

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slip, or when obstructed by a piece of wood or iron entering the boot ofthe elevator so asto UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. LO'IZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARDBAUMANN, OF SAME PLACE.

GRAIN-ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 257,446, dated May 2,1852.

Application filed November 19, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Lorz, ofChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Elevators; and I doherebydeclare thatthe followingis a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

The nature of my invention relates to buildings for storing andtransferring grain and it is the object of my invention to arrange themachinery for elevating the grain more advantageously, so as to occupyand to obstruct less room, and also thateach elevator can be thrown outof gear from the lower story of the buildmg. 1 In a large grain-houseare from two to three lines of elevators. The main line for hoisting thegrain that is dumped out of the cars are known as thereceiving-elevators, and the others for rehoisting the grain that isdischarged from one of the bins to be transferred into another bin, orto be weighed and then to be delivered into a boat or car, are knowngenerally as the shipping-elevators. Heretot'ore the receiving-elevatorsonly were driven directly from a continuous line-shutting, and theshipping-elevators were each driven from a pulley upon saidline-shafting and by a belt, and because these belts could not be ofsufficient length for the necessary stress each had to be provided witha tightening-pulley to prevent their slipping. These eross-belts notonly required constant attention and caused frequent trouble, but alsodid obstruct the upper or machinery floor of the cupola of the build ingin a manner to make it difficult for the attendant to move about forwatching and labricating the machinery parts. Another serious difficultyheretofore was that an elevator, whether choked so that the bucket-beltwould tear oft the buckets, could not be thrown out of gear from thelower floor, where the accident would be first observed, but only by theman on the upper floor, who had to be first notified through aspeaking-tube from below, I

(No model.)

which required so much time that it was pre ferred to stop the wholemachinery by stepping the driving-power to save the elevatorbelt as muchas possible.

My invention consists, first, in using a continuous line-shutting foreach line of elevators, the several lines of shat'ting being driven froma main pulley and by gear-wheels at one end of the building; second, ina bucket-belt pulley for each elevator, riding upon a paperfriction-wheel, and each friction-wheel driven from the line-shafting bygear-wheels; and, third, in the bucket-belt pulleyjournaled in bearingsresting upon two swinging beams that are raised and lowered by a wirerope passed vertically through pipes or tubcsin the grain-bins, so as toextend to the lower floor, all as fully herein after explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iproceed to describe the same in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which-- Figure 1 represents a transverse section of a largegrain elevator; Fig. 2, a. horizontal and vertical section of a portionof a tube with a rope passed through it Fig. 3, a transverse section ofthe upper or machinery floor of the cupola of the elevator; Fig. 4, alongitudinal sectional elevation of a portion of" the same, and Fig. 5 asectional plan view of the upper floor.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all the figures. 4

In Fig. 1, A denotes the lower floor of an elevator, with the car-tracks a a, elevator-boots b b, and shat'ling for grain shovelingmachines c.

B B B are the grain-bins, having hoppersha-ped bottoms.

D is the spouting-floor.

E is the floor that contains the shipping scale hoppers d.

F is the floor that contains the shipping-gap ners c and thereceiving-scale hoppers f, and G is the upper or machinery floor. floorG, at one end, is the main pulleyP, which is driven by a belt from theband-wheel of the engine, and the shaft of which is coupled with theline-shafting H, that drives the receivingelevator pulleys.

On this I is the line-shutting that drives the shipping-elevatorpulleys, and which is driven by miter gear-wheels g and by a transverseshaft, h, from the line-shat'ting H.

K K are the pulleys over which the bucketbelts are stretched. The shafts12 of these pulleys are journaled in boxes that are secured upon beamsJ. These beams J, at one end, are pivoted to posts L, and at theiropposite ends they are thinned out and passed through slots in posts M,so as to be guided and to move vertically therein. Levers j are pivotedagainst the posts M, and by links at the ends of the beams J aresuspended to these levers j. A rope, n, is connected with the ends ofthese leversj, is thence passed upward over sheaves 0, and thence itextends vertically downward through the several stories of the cupola ofthe elevator, and is passed through gas-pipes p,that are placed for thatpurpose into the grain-storage bins, and at the lower floor this rope isconnected either to a tackle, to a lever, or to a windlass, by which itis pulled by the operators whenever it becomes necessary to throw theelevator out of gear.

In place ot'a rope, I may use a chain or either a rope or chain coupledto the ends of an iron rod, and in place of the levers j and links atfor lifting the beams J, I may use any other device that will furnishthe necessary leverage and that can be connected with the wire rope. Thepulleys K ride upon paper wheels N, from which they are driven byfriction. These paper wheels I may mount upon the several line-shaftingsfor all the several elevators,which is quite an advantage over theformer arrangements, in which a portion of the elevators were driven bybelts from a single line of shafting. To this new arrangement, of which,to my best knowledge and belief, I am the originator, there is oneobjection, and that is that the line-shaftings reach from about two anda half to three feet above the floor, and are an obstruction to theattendant to move about. Besides that, the shafting has to be supportedupon special tim ber framing.

My latest improvement consists in mounting each paper wheel N upon anindependent shaft, q, having vertically-adjustablc journal -boXes q, andcarrying upon one end a spur-wheel, 'r; in placing the line-shafting Hand I in bearings a, secured upon the floor-beams s, which shafting isdriven at a high speed; and in mounting pinions it upon said shafts thatengage with the wheels 1' and drive the paper wheels N.

The advantages obtained by the abov'edescribed arrangement of placingthe lines of shaftings close to or upon the floor-beams are that theyare entirely out of the way, so as not to obstruct the floor, that theycan be easily covered and protected against the dust, that no specialframe-work is required for supporting thejournal-boxes, that lightershafting can be used on account of the increased leverage and speed, andthat a fast-runnin g engine can be used as the driving-power.

What I claim is- 1. The combination, with the elevator-pulleys and paperwheels for driving such pulleys, of a continuous shaft-line for eachline of elevators, such shaft-lines being driven from one end by asingle pulley and by gear-wheels and a transverse shaft or shafts, and awire rope, chain, or red passed through tubes in the grainstoring binsfor raising and lowering the upper elevator-pulley, substantially as setforth.

2. The combination, with a continuous lineshaftin g carryinggear-wheels, of an independent shaft for each paper whcel,journaled invertically-adjustable boxes and having a gearwhcel that meshes thegear-wheel on the line shafting, and of the elevator-pulley riding uponsuch paper wheel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a grain-elevator, the elevator-pulley supported upon swingingbeams that are raised and lowered by a wire rope passed through tubes inthe grain-storing bins, so as to reach to and be operated from the lowerfloor of the building, all substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I ailix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

I WILLIAM H. LOTZ.

